Small Claims Is The Court Of Last Resort

CONSUMER

System Is Designed To Work When All Other Avenues Are Closed

Perhaps it was a bad television repair, or a mechanic who left your car undriveable.

It could have been a pool contractor who took a down payment and never showed up. Or telemarketers who won't leave you alone, even though you've told them to put you on their no-call list.

When you have called every consumer and government group you can think of, but still can't get satisfaction, where can you turn?

Welcome to small claims court.

More than 9,000 people filed small claims cases in Palm Beach County last year.

The system is set up to work without lawyers on cases where damages are $5,000 or less; claims can be hand-written, and the case is argued by those involved.

West Palm Beach attorney Joe Fields runs a seminar on filing small claims cases for the Palm Beach County Bar Association.

``The one thing that the judges do in this court, and only in this court, is help people along in presenting their case,'' Fields said. ``It works because it's designed to work without lawyers.''

The process works like this:

If you want to sue someone, you obtain a form from the County Clerk's office. Fill that out, and give a description of why you believe you're owed money. The filing fees are $85 for claims between $100 and $5,000.

You need to do a bit of investigative work _ find out the proper name and address of the company you're suing, and the name of their registered agent. You can obtain that information from the State Department in Tallahassee, 850-488-9000. The papers then will be served on the person you're suing.

When your case is called before one of eight small claims judges at the Palm Beach County Court House, you'll want to bring along an expert _ a mechanic to testify about the condition of your car, or a building inspector to talk about the quality of construction work.

``That's probably the most common fatal mistake that people make,'' Fields said. ``You can't just show up and say the mechanic told me X _ you need to show up with a warm body who will testify.''

If you win, your opponent will be assessed the costs involved in bringing your case. But if you lose, you'll have to pay their costs. The process can take as little as several weeks to several months.

If you'd like to learn more about bringing a small claims case, you can attend a free clinic offered by the Palm Beach County Bar Association from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Jan. 27, at the Southwest County Regional Library, 20701 95th Ave. South in Boca Raton. Reservations are necessary. Call (561) 687-2800.